[NaNoWriMo: Southern Illinois] Newsletter #5 — The End of An Exciting Era… Until November 2010!

Hey everybody!

Sean and Jenna, your friendly Southern Illinois NaNoWriMo municipal liaisons, here.

We’re down to the wire for National Novel Writing Month, and a lot of people are already across the finish line!

As YOU finish, please be sure to visit the following thread and share your legendary exploits with the rest of us:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3459975

We’ve got one event left, and then, we’ve got a party scheduled for December 13th to celebrate being finished! But first, one final note from our friend Sean…

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Sean’s Soapbox
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I crossed the 50,000 word threshold today, and all I can say is this:

I can’t wait to start hitting the “delete” key and making some of those awful words disappear.

You see, I’m one of those writers who needs to get words down on paper so I can revise them out of existence. Some people can write stories fully-formed and be happy with what they first put down. Not me. I’ll be lucky if any of this novel survives for the next draft.

But that’s the thing about NaNoWriMo — it’s not just about writing a novel in a month. It’s about actually taking the time out of your busy life to ensure that you begin a creative process; that you form habits that will help you out during the rest of the year.

I’ve never struggled as much with a novel as I did this year with “Ominous Omens.” I hate it. It stinks. I was miserable writing it.

And yet, I can’t help but think about that next draft, and how it’s going to be so much better than this one. I get a gleam in my eye when I think about how my main character learned so much during this draft, and how much smarter and cooler she became as a result of me sharpening her wit with awful dialogue and campy action sequences. She really hated those. And, truth be told, so did I.

Whether you crossed the 50,000 mark or not, I hope that those of you who have made the effort to hang in there this month will continue on to finish your novel and to begin the revision process. I hope that you will see the value in writing a rough draft that wasn’t all that you wanted it to be. I hope that you will come back to NaNoWriMo next year proud of what you achieved this year… and ready to tackle another novel with the lessons you’ve learned from writing here in 2009.

I wish you all luck. It was a pleasure to write with you all, and I have made many new friends this year! Please keep in touch!

And on that note…

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What to Do When November is Done
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We hope you’ve had a wonderful time this month, and we’re really excited about the things that the new year will bring!

But what do you do after November is over?

First of all, back up your document on some external source. We recommend sending a copy of the file to a webmail account such as Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail for easy storage. We also recommend backing it up in Google Documents. Memory sticks go bad, hard drives fail and CDs can get scuffed; keep multiple copies just in case!

Next, go to www.nanowrimo.org and donate to support NaNoWriMo if you haven’t already. It’s a good cause, and even if you just donate $10, you’re making a difference in helping NaNo to be bigger and better next year!

After that, mark your calendar for Dec. 13, which is when we’ll be having our post-NaNo party for the Southern Illinois region. Details are below.

When you’re done with that, think about how you’re going to stay in the discipline of writing and/or editing for December. We recommend setting aside a guaranteed 15 minutes per day that will always be devoted to your writing. They can be when you first wake up, or over lunch, or before you go to bed. Whenever they are, set them aside, and guard them jealously. They will keep you writing, trust us!

Consider Script Frenzy this April. It’s like NaNoWriMo, but you write a 100-page script. You can find out more at http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/scriptfrenzy

And finally (and most important of all!) please sign up for our mailing list:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFVGaWVJRXYydm9vZHZlNUJjVUtESlE6MA

This is the best way for us to keep in touch post-NaNo, and it’s what we’ll be using for future (monthly beginning January) announcements about writing events in the area between now and November 2010!

Speaking of which… we will resume our weekly Saturday writing sessions in January, 2010. The location is pending. If you have suggestions for a place, let us know!

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Upcoming Events
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November’s almost over! All that’s left are two major events for the Southern Illinois Region:

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Nov. 30 @ Dave “zdras” Kueker’s House in Caseyville, IL
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PLEASE NOTE: The location has changed. We were planning on having this at Dave’s church, but he didn’t have internet access there! So, we’ve moved it to his house.

Dave “Zdras” Kueker has graciously offered his house as the location for our wrap-up event from 6:00 PM – 11:59 PM on November 30th. Come join us and finish that novel… or make an attempt to try to get as many words in as you can before midnight!

Dave’s place is very easy to find. The address is 311 S 2nd St, Caseyville, IL, 62232:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=caseyville,+IL&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS332US332&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Caseyville,+IL&gl=us&ei=uxITS7rYHsGfnQf7hOXWAw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CAwQ8gEwAA

DIRECTIONS:

TAKE I-64 to Caseyville exit #9 and turn left to go north on IL-157 into Caseyville. Turn left onto Lincoln Ave at the Caytown Convenience Store.

OR

TAKE I-55 to Collinsville exit #11 and turn right to go south on IL-157 into Caseyville. Turn right onto Lincoln Ave at the Caytown Convenience Store.

THEN
Turn right onto 2nd street a couple of blocks later at the Methodist Church. Go 4-5 blocks past the Elementary School and the Library to 311 S 2nd St, a brick house with a small white camper van in the driveway. The numbers are over the garage door.

DAVE’S HOUSE RULES

1. There will be a desktop with cable internet dedicated to uploading. If we can get it working, there might be wireless internet.

2. We’ll be spread out but close together, so you can find the spot that works best for you. Your environment can be as quiet or busy as you wish.

3. As this is a cooperative party, we will cooperate to feed each other (so bring food, drink, etc), make coffee when the pot gets empty and clean up as we go along, including dishes. When you see something that needs doing (or cleaning), feel free to do it (or clean it). No permission required. This way, when we leave, everything will be cleaned up.

4. Smokers have choice of front porch or back patio w/picnic table whenever they feel the need. If you dress warm, you can write out there.

5. It would be nice if someone could bring a stovetop tea kettle for those who want hot water. I’ll have a selection of teas, whole bean coffee, grinder, Crystal Light, etc. on hand. Feel free to bring your favorite brand of soda pop; there are too many kinds to try to keep them on hand.
Barista wannabes are welcome to bring all their toys and flavored beans and have fun with them.
EXTRAS someone could bring: stove top tea kettle, extra coffee pots for whole bean decaf or other flavors, sweetener (if you don’t like blue/aspartame), or half’n'half (if you don’t like 2%), your favorite coffee cup (or use one of mine) and anything else you’d like to share.

6. There is an elderly cat who thinks the house belongs to her.

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Dec. 13: Wrap-Up Party at Lottawatta Creek in Fairview Heights, IL
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We’ll be getting together for dinner on Sunday, December 13th at Lottawatta Creek in Fairview Heights, IL from 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM. Come join us for some good food, some great conversation, and an awesome time with your fellow writers!

Please RSVP by December 12th to Sean Jordan (seanjjordan1@gmail.com) if you’re interested in attending. Sean will send out directions to everyone on the guest list. Please let Sean know if you’re bringing a guest (or spouse) along so he can make sure we have enough seating!

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Denouement
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As always, you can find out more about our events (including post-NaNo events) on our calendar at

http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=nnv4ngb4834o2j7io5v6o7a118%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Chicago

And don’t forget to check out our blog at

http://soilnanowrimo.wordpress.com!

Good luck with your remaining NaNoWriMoing, and let us know if we can be of any assistance to you!

-Sean and Jenna, your friendly MLs.

[NaNoWriMo: Southern Illinois] Newsletter #4 — One More Week of NaNoWriMo!

Hey everybody!

Sean and Jenna, your friendly Southern Illinois NaNoWriMo municipal liaisons, here.

After a NIGHT OF WRITING DANGEROUSLY last night with a bunch of other Wrimos, we’re starting to feel like we’re reaching the home stretch of our novels. And that’s good news, because we’ve only got one more week to go for NaNoWriMo 2009!

We’ll let you know ahead of time that this is going to be the hardest week of all, because we’ve got a major holiday on Thursday and major shopping day on Friday. That means that even if you’re caught up on Wednesday, it’s going to be easy to get around 3,333 words behind by the weekend. We’ve got some plans to help alleviate this, so keep on reading to find out what we’ve got planned for the next week!

But first… a word from Sean.

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Sean’s Soapbox
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I’ve been talking to a lot of folks over the last week about how they’ve been doing, and I’ve found that many people fall into one of three categories:

1) OVERACHIEVERS — Wrimos who are finished with their novels already. These are the folks who look at the grueling 30-day deadline for NaNoWriMo and say, “too easy.” They’re also atypical of most writers because they’re not procrastinators. We should be proud of these folks for finishing so soon… but not allow ourselves to get discouraged by their zeal to be among the first finished.

2) GOAL-SETTERS — Wrimos who follow the daily word count guidelines and who stick to goals and quotas to keep themselves writing. This describes the majority of folks who will win NaNoWriMo; it certainly describes me. Despite my initial desire to be among the “Overachievers,” I’m a “Goal-Setter” at heart.

3) LEFT-BEHINDERS — Wrimos who have gotten woefully behind and who have either quit or resigned themselves to the idea that they probably won’t finish. A few will put some serious effort in this week, write 20,000 words, and cross the finish line. But most will simply accept the “participant” ribbon and talk about how next year is going to be the year they finish.

It’s this third group that I want to address.

My first year doing NaNo, our previous ML, Butch Wilson, saw me struggling with my novel and asked me if I was going to finish by November 30th. It was pretty obvious that I wasn’t; my retail job was consuming my life, and I barely had time to think about anything else. I told Butch I was going to have to quit and wait until next year.

“You could do that,” he told me. “But you know, NaNoWriMo’s 30-day challenge is just that — a challenge. You might have to adjust the goal, but you can still finish your novel. Do you think you could finish it in 60 days?”

“No,” I said. “Christmas will keep me too busy.”

“How about 90 days, then?” he said. “You can do it. You just need to put in a little bit of time every day. Do it on your break, or before you go to bed, or in the morning. Just keep writing.”

I told him I’d think about it. And, truth be told, I never actually finished that novel, because I told myself I didn’t have the time. It’s actually one of my biggest regrets of the last five years, because I gave up on something simply because I couldn’t meet the original deadline I’d set.

Statistically speaking, around 4 in 5 people who begin NaNoWriMo don’t make it to 50,000 words in 30 days. I’ve often wondered how many of those people have stopped writing altogether for a year because they know that they left their November novel unfinished. Based on conversations I’ve had with many of our participants, I’d guess that that happens a lot more than most people would like to admit. And I’ll tell you, folks, that is one of the best ways to remain a “would-be writer” the rest of your life is to abstain from actually writing.

So, in our final week of NaNoWriMo, let me encourage those of you who have been struggling to get across the finish line to take heart. You CAN finish, even if it’s not by November 30th. Here’s how you do it:

A) Set a deadline for when you think you can actually finish.
B) Look at your current word count and calculate how many words a day you need to write.
C) E-mail me, or Jenna, or a trusted friend, and let them know that you are planning to keep on until you’re done, and ask for them to check in on your and keep you accountable.
D) Write every day, even if it’s just a few words you write over a 5 minute coffee break. But make time to write SOMETHING.

I am here to be your cheerleader (though I look terrible in a skirt). Just let me know, and I’ll help you! After all, I’d hate to see you make the same mistake I made a few years back.

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How To Finish Your Novel
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Unless you’ve meticulously planned out your story, chances are good that you’re approaching the end of your story and have very little idea how to actually finish it. We understand — we’ve been there too! But the good news is that we’ve got a few suggestions for how you can bring your story to a graceful end.

1) TIE UP ALL OF YOUR LOOSE ENDS IN A SINGLE CHAPTER. Bring back all of your characters for a “curtain call” and resolve their storylines by having them explain what they did to solve all of their problems. This is especially useful for reminding yourself what you need to edit in the next draft; you’ll often find you forgot about major plot points altogether!

2) INTRODUCE SOME DEUS EX MACHINA. If you’re having trouble winding up your story, just have some incredible, outside action resolve the story for you. This technique is called “deus ex machina,” which means “the god in the machine.” That’s because the ancient Greeks would often end their plays by having a god appear in the final act and resolve all of the complex plotting with a brief speech. (The actors were often suspended by means of some sort of ancient machinery; hence the phrase.) A more modern twist is to have a nuclear bomb fall on the villain, a virus wipe out the bad guys, or the characters pull off their virtual reality equipment and say, “that game was a lot of fun!”

3) KILL ALL YOUR CHARACTERS. Don’t knock this ending; it worked for a certain bardish playwright in one of the greatest plays of all time, so it can work for you, too! Just force that final showdown and let everyone die. It’ll ensure your story is definitely definitively DONE and it will allow you to breathe a sigh of relief in knowing that you don’t have to write a sequel to it in next year’s NaNoWriMo.

4) PULL AN M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN. Throw in an unpredictable twist! It’s nice if you’ve built the story to have it in the first place, but it’s not entirely necessary. If Shyamalan can get away with making a movie where aliens attack a world that’s 80% water only to find that the beings made up of 75% water can defeat them with, well, WATER, then you can introduce that awesome plot twist where your main character is actually related to a clan of cybernetic ninjas from the Jovian moon of Io who swoop in and save the day. You can even write yourself into the story by having some guy in the background shrug, smile, and say, “What a TWEEST!”

5) HEAVEN AWAITS. If you are writing religious fiction, you can easily end your story by using technique #3 and then setting your final scene in Heaven (or, if your characters are deserving of it, Hell). That way, you give your characters the potential for the ultimate happy ending, and you also free yourself of ever having to write about them again!
Of course, these are just some ideas for ending a story. If you need more, start asking for dares at the write-ins; your fellow writers will delight in helping you find a creative way to bring your NaNo novel to a fitting end!

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This Week’s Events
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We’ve got tons of write-ins available this week. We’ve also got a big writer’s retreat scheduled to help everyone get to the finish line!

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Nov. 23 @ Borders in Fairview Heights
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We’ll be hosting a write-in in the Borders cafe from 2:00-8:00 on Monday afternoon in Fairview Heights, IL. Keep an eye out for Katie Gilroy, who will be your event host.

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Nov. 24 @ Starbucks in Collinsville, IL
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From 6:00 – 9:00 PM, we’ll be writing at the Collinsville Starbucks off I-55 and IL-157. Stacie will be present to help Wrimos get their laptops powered up!

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Nov. 25 @ Wise Choice Coffee in Edwardsville, IL
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From 4:00 – 7:00 PM, we’ll be writing at Wise Choice Coffee in Edwardsville. Jenna Stoeber will be hosting — be sure to let her know if you need power or some help getting past your writer’s block!

From 7:30 – 10:30 PM, we’ll be moving over to “After Hours” at the Glen Carbon Denny’s. Even if you can’t make it to Wise Choice, come join us After Hours for food, fun, and more writing with your fellow Wrimos!

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Nov. 26-27: NO WRITE-INS
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We do not have any write-ins scheduled for Thursday or Friday. Please have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

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Nov. 28th-29th — Writer’s Retreat
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Need some serious time away from home to get your novel written? We’re going to help you out by having our first-ever WRITER’S RETREAT!

We’ll be back at the Learning Technology Center in Edwardsville, but this time, we’ll be writing for the entire weekend! (You can come and go as you please, but be sure to be there at least one of the two days for some great writing and a lot of fun!)

This will be a potluck event, so please, bring some sort of dish to share with your fellow Wrimos. We do have ample space for crock pots and finger foods, so don’t be shy about bring that awesome entree or dessert you’re famous for!
Some drinks (soda, tea, water, coffee) will be provided. Please feel free to bring your own as well. As before, no alcohol is permitted.

We will also be having some WORD WARS with prizes. But these won’t just be a matter of rewarding quantity, so don’t fret!
The schedule of events will work this way:

SATURDAY
10:00-10:30 AM: Welcome and setup time.
10:30 AM – NOON: Quiet Writing time.
NOON-1:00 PM: Lunch Break
1:00-1:30: WORD WAR #1: SMASH THE GOAL
1:30-3:00: Quiet writing time.
3:00-3:15: Break
3:15-4:15: WORD WAR #2: POWER HOUR
4:15-4:30: Break
4:30-6:00: Quiet writing time.

SUNDAY
10:00-10:30 AM: Welcome and setup time.
10:30 AM – NOON: Quiet Writing time.
NOON-1:00 PM: Lunch Break
1:00-1:30: WORD WAR #3: RANDOM TARGET
1:30-3:00: Quiet writing time.
3:00-3:15: Break
3:15-4:15: WORD WAR #4: MARATHON
4:15-4:30: Break
4:30-6:00: Quiet writing time.

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Nov. 30th – Countdown to Midnight! @ Caseyville United Methodist Church
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Eager to finish off this year’s NaNoWriMo in the company of friends? Sweating bullets as you try to get that novel finished? No problem! We’re going to have our final event at the Caseyville United Methodist Church where our fellow Wrimo Dave “Zdras” Kueker is pastor. Dave’s graciously supplying us with space and beverages; all we need to bring along are our novels, our imaginations, our writing utensils, and our good cheer!

We will be having this event from 6:00-12:00 on Monday, Nov. 30th. More details will be included in next week’s (brief) newsletter.

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Denouement
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As always, you can find out more about our events on our calendar at

http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=nnv4ngb4834o2j7io5v6o7a118%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Chicago

And don’t forget to check out our blog at

http://soilnanowrimo.wordpress.com!

Good luck with your NaNoWriMoing, and let us know if we can be of any assistance to you!

-Sean and Jenna, your friendly MLs.

[NaNoWriMo: Southern Illinois] Newsletter #3 — Halfway There! (Or What To Do If You’re Woefully Behind)

Hey everybody!

Time for some more NaNoWriMo news, Southern Illinois-style!

It’s Monday morning, and we’re officially two weeks away from the finish line on November 30th. If you’re on track, you should be halfway done (25,000 words) as of yesterday. A few of you are ahead of the curve (and I know at least one person, Lell, is already past the 50,000 mark!), but on average, we’ve got 16,088 reported words per person in our region. That’s the bad news, because we have many folks who are behind or who have given up. But, the astounding news is that we’ve had 1,721,423 words reported written thus far in our region — that’s enough words to fill 34 50,000 word novels!

Fortunately, we’ve got plenty of events scheduled over the next two weeks that should help many people to get caught up. The next two weekends, in particular, are going to be epic, and we hope you can make it to our “Night of Writing Dangerously” and our weekend “Writer’s Retreat” as they come up!

More details on those events below. But for now, let’s hear from Sean.

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Sean’s Soapboax
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I turned 30 this weekend, and I was hoping to celebrate that milestone by at least hitting 30,000 words by the 15th. Unfortunately, I spent most of the weekend celebrating and procrastinating, and barely any time writing. As a result, I’m sitting at 21,000 this morning, and hoping to get a lot of writing in this week to make up for getting behind. (My wife, on the other hand, crossed into the 30k territory last night while I was playing video games. She’s got a lot more discipline than I do!)

So, take it from me — it’s easy to get behind, and even easier to get so behind that you start getting annoyed and depressed. The first year I attempted NaNoWriMo, I didn’t come close to finishing. The second year, I finished a few hours before midnight on November 30th. THe third year, I finished the morning of the last day. This year started out seeming easier, but my penchant for procrastination has put me on schedule to maybe be finished by the evening of the 29th.

My point is that even those of us who have done this for years struggled with NaNoWriMo. Every year is a new challenge, and while it might be marginally easier once you have some experience built up, NaNoWriMo is still something you have to work hard at doing if you want to achieve success.

I know some of you are still struggling to cross the 10,000 word point. To you I say — don’t give up! Even if you’re only at 10,000 words two weeks in, you can still finish your NaNo novel by the 30th if you are willing to push through. There are three ways you can accomplish this:

1) Write in short, 15-minute bursts. Challenge yourself to rack up as many words as possible in those periods, but shoot for 500. Do this four times throughout the day and you’ll have only spent an hour of time writing… but you’ll have 2,000 words. 2,000 x 15 days = 30,000 words. That’s more than half a NaNo novel right there.

2) Come to the write-ins. We have write-ins almost every day. You can also organize write-ins with other Wrimos on your own, have some informal write-ins via an online chat, or just force yourself to go sit at the library for a couple of hours and write with some friends who are working on homework or something. Get yourself out there and get some writing done.

3) Find someone to keep you accountable. In the worst-case scenario, if you were starting from scratch today with 0 words, you’d need about 3,334 words per day. So, find someone who can check in with you every day to make sure that you’re hitting that number. Give that person some sort of power over you. (Chris Baty suggests some sort of positive or negative reinforcement in his book, _No Plot? No Problem_.) I would suggest that it’s a trusted and respected friend and not a spouse. But whomever it is, have them hold you accountable.

Next week, I’ll talk about “Life After NaNo” — when those who finish their novels in November begin the tedious process of editing and those who have not finished are encouraged to keep on keepin’ on.

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How To Self-Edit
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Are you finding yourself wanting to edit as you go along? It’s hard to ignore that impulse, especially when you know that what you’re writing is likely to be tossed out when you get to the editing stage. And yet your NaNo friends are yelling at you for spending time editing when you should be writing. Isn’t there some way you can edit as you go and still be a model Wrimo?

Actually, there is. First of all, if knowing that you need to edit something bothers you, use this rule of thumb. If a change takes you less than 60 seconds to make, go ahead and make it. If a change requires more rewriting, make a note to yourself to fix it later. As you’re writing, you can insert little notes for yourself as a reminder of what you want to fix. If you’re using MS Word or Open Office, it’s as easy as creating a “comment” that you’ll be able to see in your edited draft. If you’re using a word processor that doesn’t have the feature, you can open up a text editor like “Notepad” and simply write little notes to yourself corresponding to the line you want to change. In this way, you can keep your mind clear of changes without losing a record of what you were thinking as you were writing.

But what if a whole section needs to be removed and rewritten? I suggest creating a section called “GRAVEYARD” at the end of your document and moving your writing down there. That way, you get to keep the words — and, more importantly, the writing! — without having that section remain in the continuity of your story. You’d be amazed how useful graveyards can be. Sometimes, that awful section you wrote as Chapter 2 can sit in the graveyard and then be resurrected for Chapter 10 or 12 or 15 with minimal editing. Sometimes, that section will remind you about where you were originally going with the story and help you get on track when you get stuck. Sometimes, it’s just nice to reflect upon how awful your writing was when you started and how much better it is now.

“But what if I just delete stuff because it’s bad?” you might be asking. The answer to that is simple. Use the highlighting function in your word processor or change the color of the words you want to delete and move on to the next section. This is called “flagging” words. It’s a good practice! For one thing, you might find that the words you want to delete are not as bad as you thought when you were “in the moment.” For another thing, it keeps you focused on creating, not editing and evaluating. Just having the words there encourages you to push on, knowing that you can edit later and make them go away.

Understand, too, that the creative process is about taking nothing and turning it into something. As you shape that nothing into something, you’re going to see things you didn’t see when you started. Your story will change and evolve as you go, and you’re going to have to deal with that in revision. That’s fine! But remember that nothing ever springs out of nothing fully formed; it takes time and constant refinement for that to happen.

Good luck!

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This Week’s Events
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We’ve got tons of write-ins available this week. We’ve also got a big party

on Saturday that you’re all invited to attend!

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Nov. 16 @ Borders in Fairview Heights

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We’ll be hosting a write-in in the Borders cafe from 2:00-8:00 on Monday afternoon in Fairview Heights, IL. Keep an eye out for Katie Gilroy, who will be your event host.

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Nov. 17 @ Starbucks in Collinsville, IL
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From 6:00 – 9:00 PM, we’ll be writing at the Collinsville Starbucks off I-55 and IL-157. Stacie will be present to help Wrimos get their laptops powered up!

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Nov. 18 @ Wise Choice Coffee in Edwardsville, IL
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From 4:00 – 7:00 PM, we’ll be writing at Wise Choice Coffee in Edwardsville. Jenna Stoeber will be hosting — be sure to let her know if you need power or some help getting past your writer’s block!

From 7:30 – 10:30 PM, we’ll be moving over to “After Hours” at the Glen Carbon Denny’s. Even if you can’t make it to Wise Choice, come join us After Hours for food, fun, and more writing with your fellow Wrimos!

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Nov. 19 @ Starbucks in Collinsville, IL
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From 6:00 – 9:00 PM, we’ll be writing at the Collinsville Starbucks off I-55 and IL-157. Sean and Stacie will be present to help Wrimos get their laptops powered up!

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Nov. 21 @ The Sweeter House of Coffee in Lebanon, IL
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From 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM, come join us for some coffee, lunch, and writing in a coffee shop in downtown Lebanon called The Sweeter House of Coffee and Cafe! Victoria will be our host, and since she also works there, she can advise on food choices!

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Nov. 21 @ Borders in Fairview Heights, IL
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We’ll be hosting a write-in in the Borders cafe from 2:30-6:30 on Monday afternoon in Fairview Heights, IL. Keep an eye out for Sean and Stacie, who will be there to help you with power needs, moral support, and getting settled down to write with your fellow Wrimos.

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Nov. 21st-22nd — Night of Writing Dangerously!
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From 6 PM Saturday night until 6 AM Sunday morning, we’ll be WRITING DANGEROUSLY at the Glen Carbon Community Room inside the Police Department. And it’s going to be a blast! This is a great way to get several thousand words on paper.

This is a come-and-go event; you don’t have to be there for the whole 12 hours. But we will have food and beverages available to make it worth your while if you’d like to be there for the entire time! (This is a potluck event, so please bring some finger foods to share. Beverages will be provided.)

The room will have ample power and space for you to stretch out, but it will NOT have internet access. That’s OK, though — you’ll have one less distraction keeping you from writing! (If you need Internet access that badly, there’s a Denny’s less than 2 miles away you can pop off to as needed.)

The address is 149 N Main Street, Glen Carbon, IL 62034-1625. We’ll be in the Glen Carbon Community Room. We hope to see you there!

————————————–Nov. 28th-29th — Writer’s Retreat
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If you haven’t marked your calendars already for our first-ever WRITER’S RETREAT, please keep November 28th-29th free! We’ll be back at the Learning Technology Center in Edwardsville, but this time, we’ll be writing for the entire weekend! (You can come and go as you please, but be sure to be there at least one of the two days for some great writing and a lot of fun!)

More details to come next week, but for now… mark your calendars!

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Denouement
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As always, you can find out more about our events on our calendar at
http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=nnv4ngb4834o2j7io5v6o7a118%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Chicago

And don’t forget to check out our blog at
http://soilnanowrimo.wordpress.com!

Good luck with your NaNoWriMoing, and let us know if we can be of any assistance to you!

-Sean and Jenna, your friendly MLs.

[NaNoWriMo: Southern Illinois] Newsletter #2 — What To Do When The NaNo Glow Wears Off…

Hey everybody!

It’s Monday morning, and if you’re staying on track, you should have 15,000 words down by the end of the day. That’s 30% of your novel, and, if you’re writing a conventional story, likely closing in on the end of your first act!

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Sean’s Soapboax
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What I’ve been hearing from a lot of folks, however, is that while getting to 10,000 was pretty easy, getting to 15,000 has been a challenge. For one thing, the weather was really nice this weekend, and a lot of folks took advantage. For another thing, a lot of that initial NaNoWriMo enthusiasm has waned, and many writers are starting to realize what an ordeal they’ve gotten themselves into.

Let me encourage you all by saying that last year around this time, I got miserably behind, and had to spend a lot of my free time getting caught back up. I remember plotting out story points aloud as I was driving to work in St. Louis, and I remember keeping a little notebook handy so I could write down ideas as they came to me when I was in class. My TV was barely watched, my video games collected dust, and my laptop begged for mercy as I thundered away on the keyboard. But in the end, I was glad I did it. You will be too.

A few people have told me that they just don’t have enough time. Believe me, I understand – during my first year of NaNo, I was managing a retail store, and I could not finish my story during November because I was expected to be at my store pretty much all the time. Some of us just have a lot on our plates at this time of year.

But at the same time, be careful not to make excuses just because NaNo is a challenge. There are 168 hours in a week. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that most people spend 50 of those hours at work or school or in a commute, and let’s also say that 56 of those hours are spent asleep. That leaves 62 hours in which all of your other activities can take place. Now, I wouldn’t expect that you’d spend all of those doing NaNo. (If you did, you’d be done already!) But what I would suggest is that most people can budget 10 -15 hours per week for NaNo if they tighten up their schedules a little bit.

You might not even need that much time. We currently offer almost 30 hours per week of official NaNoWriMo write-in time for the St. Louis Metro East folks, but what many participants find valuable are those 15-minute “word challenges” we run. My estimation is that most participants jam out at least 500 words during these challenges. 500 words in 15 minutes is a pretty big accomplishment. If you can just find three or four 15-minute stretches of your day in which you can thunder out 500 words, you’ll be across that finish line on November 30th, no sweat.

At the same time, let me encourage you to hang in there even if you’re woefully behind. We’re not so far into this game yet that you have to do anything drastic if you’re behind. Just come to one of the write-ins, set a goal for yourself, and have your fellow Wrimos keep you accountable. You will never find more support for writing a terrible novel than you’ll find among Wrimos. Take advantage of that.

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Story Structure
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We mentioned earlier on that if you’re writing a conventional story, you should be closing in on the end of Act 1 by now. But some of you might not be familiar with the concept of 3 Act structure, so we thought we’d offer you a brief explanation of how it works.

One of the big myths of writing is that it’s bad form to write from a formula. That is completely untrue. Since the days of ancient Greece, and maybe even before that, storytellers had a format that they followed. It’s a natural progression that shapes many of the books we read and the movies we watch today. It’s sometimes referred to as “Three Act Structure”. Think of it as being sort of a skeleton of a story — something that holds things together, but that shouldn’t be obvious to the reader. The writer’s job is to understand that structure while using his or her imagination to cover that skeleton up.

Every story begins with an “inciting incident” — something that happens to take the protagonist out of his or her comfortable world and into the bigger story as a whole. In Star Wars, it’s the arrival of two droids who have been sent to find General Kenobi. In The Lord of the Rings, it’s Gandalf’s realization that Bilbo’s old ring is actually the One Ring that must be destroyed. This incident sets the rest of the wheels in motion until the plot is ultimately resolved.

After the inciting incident, in Three Act Structure, Act 1 of the story actually begins. Act 1 is about shaping the story, and having the protagonist understand the shape of things to come. In the heroic archetype, this section often involves a journey into the unfamiliar. Act 1 is where a lot of that tedious description takes place. It’s also where the key players are introduced and the conflict is ultimately revealed. Act 1 typically ends with progress being made towards the resolution of the conflict, giving the protagonist a temporary victory against his or her source of conflict.

It’s a good thing Act 1 ends on a high note, because Act 2 is about the decline towards defeat. During Act 2, the protagonist will face ever-increasing challenges, and will ultimately find him or herself in a position that seems insurmountable or even hopeless. This is the dark center of the story, the place where it seems like the antagonist (or other side of the conflict) might actually win. In fact, in many classic stories, the villain does win in Act 2.

Act 3 is about redemption. This is where the protagonist pushes towards that final climax — the part of the story where the conflict will ultimately be resolved and the protagonist will emerge successful. This could be a physical victory, but it could also be an achievement of enlightenment or a permanent relief from a barrage of troubles.

This leads to the denouement (falling action), where the loose ends are tied up, things are set back to the way they were (or the way they will be now that the protagonist has had this experience), and the story concludes.

Let’s use the example of a legal case to go through this structure. So, the inciting incident is that Frank (the antagonist) is suing Joe (the protagonist) because Frank alleges that Joe stole a million dollars from him. Joe did not, and is forced to hire a lawyer and go to court.

Act 1 would be the opening arguments. This is where we would learn about the case and find out what the conflict was all about. We would also see how diabolical Frank might be in telling lies about Joe.

Act 2 would be the barrage of witnesses Frank would bring in to falsely accuse Joe. The act would conclude with Joe himself being cross-examined by the plaintiff’s attorney only to find himself tricked into losing credibility on the witness stand. Frank would seem to have won.

Act 3 would be when Joe realizes that Frank’s case has a fatal flaw in in, and gets his lawyer to call Frank up on the stand. Joe’s lawyer gets Frank to break down and admit that it’s all a lie. Closing arguments are made, and the jury convenes only to come back moments later and announce that Joe wins the case.

The denouement is Joe’s return home, where he and his family take their lawyer out to dinner and settle the legal bill amicably.

You’ll notice that this structure very typically occurs in trilogies. Think of the Star Wars Trilogy for a moment. The original Star Wars (episode 4) is Act 1. The Empire Strikes Back is Act 2. And the Return of the Jedi is Act 3. This is not an accident– George Lucas was working from this archetype and structured his story in this way. It’s a good structure, and it makes it easier for you, as a writer, to see where your plot is eventually going! It’s also easier on the reader, and it makes the story more fun to read since it won’t seem like quite such a journey into uncharted territory.

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This Week’s Events
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We’ve got tons of write-ins available this week. We’ve also got a big party on Saturday that you’re all invited to attend!

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Nov. 9 @ Borders in Fairview Heights
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We’ll be hosting a write-in in the Borders cafe from 2:00-8:00 on Monday afternoon in Fairview Heights, IL. Keep an eye out for Katie Gilroy, who will be your event host.

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Nov. 10 @ Starbucks in Collinsville, IL
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From 6:00 – 9:00 PM, we’ll be writing at the Collinsville Starbucks off I-55 and IL-157. Sean and Stacie will be present to help Wrimos get their laptops powered up!

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Nov. 11 @ Wise Choice Coffee in Edwardsville, IL
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From 4:00 – 7:00 PM, we’ll be writing at Wise Choice Coffee in Edwardsville. Jenna Stoeber will be hosting — be sure to let her know if you need power or some help getting past your writer’s block!

From 7:30 – 10:30 PM, we’ll be moving over to “After Hours” at the Glen Carbon Denny’s. Even if you can’t make it to Wise Choice, come join us After Hours for food, fun, and more writing with your fellow Wrimos!

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Nov. 12 @ Starbucks in Collinsville, IL
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From 6:00 – 9:00 PM, we’ll be writing at the Collinsville Starbucks off I-55 and IL-157. Sean and Stacie will be present to help Wrimos get their laptops powered up!

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Nov. 12 — Elizabeth Donald’s “Things That Go Chomp in the Night”
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Our friend Elizabeth Donald (whom you may have met at some of the write-ins) is giving a talk and doing a book signing of her novel THE COLD ONES at the AfterWords Bookstore on 231 N. Main in Edwardsville, IL from 7:00-9:00 PM.

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Nov. 14 @ The Sweeter House of Coffee in Lebanon, IL
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From 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM, come join us for some coffee, lunch, and writing in a coffee shop in downtown Lebanon called The Sweeter House of Coffee and Cafe! Victoria will be our host, and since she also works there, she can advise on food choices!

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Nov. 14 @ Borders in Fairview Heights, IL
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We’ll be hosting a write-in in the Borders cafe from 2:30-6:30 on Monday afternoon in Fairview Heights, IL. Keep an eye out for Sean and Stacie, who will be there to help you with power needs, moral support, and getting settled down to write with your fellow Wrimos.

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Nov. 14 — PARTY @ Sean and Stacie’s House
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Stacie (queenstacela) is turning 31, an Sean (SeanJJordan) is turning 30. Sean also just finished his master’s degree in marketing research. What better way to celebrate than with a kicking house party? What’s more, all of you lucky Wrimos are invited!

Here are the details, from Sean:

On November 14th, we’ll be having a party at our place from 6:00 PM on, and we hope you can make it! We’ll have plenty of food, and we’ll also have plenty going on. Some of the things we have planned involve:

–>Rockin’ out with The Beatles:Rock Band and Rock Band 2

–>A “You Don’t Know Jack” trivia showdown

–>Some Improv Comedy games

–>A random assortment of board and card games (including an epic round of Apples to Apples!)

–>A screening of “Twilight” with the Rifftrax playing!

–>Some sort of special preview screening of Sean’s upcoming book, “Code of the Wild: North American Wolverine vs. Timber Wolf”!

It’s going to be a good time. And we want you to be here! Feel free to bring a friend, but please — RSVP so we know how much food to have on hand! You can RSVP (and get directions) by sending an email to Sean: seanjjordan1 AT gmail DOT com.

(We may have some adult beverages on hand, but please – feel free to bring your own if you would like some! Please note, however, that any underage drinking cannot and will not be allowed — we live a block from the police station, and we’ve got a neighbor across the street who may call the cops if we get too rowdy. So, if you’re underage, please plan on being a designated driver, k?)

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Denouement
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As always, you can find out more about our events on our calendar at http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=nnv4ngb4834o2j7io5v6o7a118%40gr…

And don’t forget to check out our blog at http://soilnanowrimo.wordpress.com!

Good luck with your NaNoWriMoing, and let us know if we can be of any assistance to you!

-Sean and Jenna, your friendly MLs.

Check Out Our Flickr Photostream!

A picture’s worth 1,000 words, right? Well, we’re going have plenty of them available as we run NaNoWriMo events this November. And what’s more, we’re going to post them all up on our Flickr photostream! Here are a few of the pictures from tonight. (Click on them to be taken to more!)

NaNoWriMo Meet-up in Edwardsville, IL. 10-28-09

NaNoWriMo Meet-Up. Edwardsville, IL. 10-28-09.

NaNoWriMo Meet-Up. Edwardsville, IL. 10-28-09.

Borders Meet-Up in Fairview Heights. October 29th, 2009.

Borders Meet-Up in Fairview Heights. October 29th, 2009.

Borders Meet-Up in Fairview Heights. October 29th, 2009.

Want to submit a picture or pictures of your own? Send ‘em to us and we’ll add ‘em!

Meet-Up at Borders in Fairview Heights tonight!

Hey! Did you miss last night’s informational meet-up in Edwardsville? If so, don’t fret! We’re having another at Borders Books and Music in Fairview Heights, IL tonight in the cafe from 6:00-8:00 PM. So, come on out and join us!

And while you’re at it, bring a friend or two along. We had at least 20 people at last night’s event… why not see if we can beat that record?

And don’t forget about our November 1st Kick-Off Party! Speaking of which… here’s a flier for the event!

Newsletter #0: Seven Days Till NaNo Begins!

[This newsletter was sent out to all registered users of the Southern Illinois region. Be sure to register if you haven't already!]

Hey everyone,

Sean Jordan, the Municipal Liaison for the Southern Illinois “River to River” region of National Novel Writing Month (a.k.a. NaNoWriMo) here. I just looked at the clock, and I realized that EXACTLY 7 days from now, it’ll be 12:01, November 1st will be here, and I’ll be pounding out the first words of my novel on my keyboard, feverishly trying to get a couple thousand in before I head to bed. What’s more, I know a lot of you will be doing the same thing. That’s pretty exciting, huh?

But as we prepare for the calendar to flip over to November and the novel-writing to begin, we’ve got plenty to do over the next week. I thought I’d send out an e-mail to everyone to let you know about all the cool stuff that’s going on.

The Southern Illinois Region covers everything from I-70 down to the southernmost reaches of the state. Our most active areas are the St. Louis Metro East and the Carbondale area. We also have many participants who write from their home town and who post their progress on the forums!

For those who signed up for National Novel Writing Month and forgot what it’s all about, here’s a quick refresher: every year, aspiring novelists all over the world set aside the month of November for novel-writing. Each participant is challenged to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Those who manage to make their goal are called “winners”, and they get an awesome prize — a certificate. Of course, they also have the satisfaction of knowing that they’ve finally got a novel finished. (A terrible mess of a novel, to be sure, but a novel nontheless!)

Every year, about half of the people who sign up tend to drop out within the first week. I’ve been there myself, and I know how hard it can be when you’re busy. November’s a crazy month, and this is a big commitment. But let me encourage you to hang in there this year, and do your best to keep writing. Come to events, post your progress on the forums, and beg your friends to keep you accountable, even if it means they have to hold your cherished family pet hostage until you get your 50,000 words written. We’re here to help, and we know you’ll be proud of what you’ve accomplished in the end!

With that said, here’s what’s going on in the region:

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Informational Meet-Ups
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Is it your first time attempting NaNoWriMo, and you want to know what you’re getting yourself into? Are you an old pro who just wants to see your NaNo buddies again? In either event, you’re in luck! We’re having not one, but TWO informational meet-ups this week to get everyone ready for November. The content covered at booth meet-ups will be the same, so if you can’t make it to one, come to the other!

The first will take place on Wednesday, October 28th from 5-7 pm at Wise Choice Coffee in Edwardsville. The address is 1063 S State Route 157 # A, Edwardsville, IL 62025. (It’s in the strip mall, in the same block as Bella Milano’s and Jimmy Johns.)

We’re also having a SECOND Meet-Up on Thursday, October 29th in Fairview Heights at Borders Books and Music, just off the intersection of I-64 and IL-159. We’ll be meeting in the cafe.

The Meet-Up is a great way to, well, meet up with fellow like-minded novelists/maniacs in your area. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to come, be it early, late, or teleconferenced in. We’ll discuss ourselves, our novels, characters, Write-Ins, worries, hopes and whatever else comes up. The Meet-Up will be your first chance to meet many of the other would-be Wrimos whom you’ll be writing with, and it’s also the best place to ask any questions you might have before you get in the thick of it. Plus, it’s a really fun chance to talk about your plans for the novel you’ll be writing in the month of November!

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Calendar of Events
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Over the last few weeks, we asked past NaNo participants from our region to take a survey about their experiences with NaNo last year. We’ve used the results of this survey to shape the events we’ve planned for this year. We’ll share all of the results with you at the informational meet-ups and on the regional forums at http://www.nanowrimo.org. But in the meantime, we wanted to let you know about the calendar of events we’ve set up so far!

You can access the calendar by following this link:
http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=bm52NG5nYjQ4MzRvMmo3aW81djZvN2E…

We’re using this calendar to keep track of the many, MANY events we’ve got scheduled, and you should go ahead and bookmark it now so you can stay updated on the options you have for meeting with your fellow writers. As spontaneous events are set up, we’ll add them too; you never know when a last-minute write-in may be happening!

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Kick-Off Meeting
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I’ll be writing from midnight to 2 AM on Nov 1st, as I said, and we’ll probably have an informal gathering somewhere for those who are night owls like myself. But we’re also having a kick-off meeting at a much more reasonable time of the day: 10 AM – 6 PM on Sunday, November 1st at he Edwardsville Learning Technology Center on 200 Clay St., Edwardsville, IL 62025. The building looks like a row of old condos. You can park in the (small) lot outside or on the street. We’ll be in the conference room, which is the basement. The door is on the RIGHT.

This is a potluck event, which means you can bring food to share with others. We will have free sandwiches and chips available for everyone; please bring your own (non-alcoholic) drinks. If you would like to bring a dish, dessert or whatnot for everyone, please feel free! (There are plugins available for crock pots or hot plates if the food needs to stay warm.)

We will be furiously writing the entire time, so please feel free to come and go as you please.

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Mailing List
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During the first week of NaNoWriMo, the Web site (http://www.nanowrimo.org) always runs a little slow. Chris and the folks at the Office of Letters and Light are constantly working to improve this, but the interest in NaNoWriMo always seems to outstrip the capacity of the servers during that first week.

So, we have set up a mailing list specifically for the region that you can use to communicate with other writers in the area. You can sign up for it by visiting the following link and entering your e-mail address into the form:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFVGaWVJRXYydm9vZHZlNUJj…

I will send out an official newsletter every Sunday during the month of November, but a lot of cool, informal communication will happen through the mailing list. Don’t miss out!

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Social Media
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DId you know our region has a blog, a Facebook Group, a Flickr Photostream and a Twitter feed?

You can find our blog at http://SoILnanowrimo.wordpress.com. We’re keeping it updated with resources and announcements — be sure to check it out, and leave some comments to let us know what you like!

You can join our Facebook Group by visiting http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=150630103129. This is yet another place to interact with other writers and to get news as it happens.

Our Flickr photostream will have pictures from events. You can find it at http://www.flickr.com/photos/soilnanowrimo/.

Our Twitter feed is brand new, and we’ll be using it to tweet out events, dares, and other cool stuff! You can find our feed at http://www.twitter.com/soilnanowrimo. Also, if you’re a Twitter user, be sure to include the hashtag #SoILnanowrimo any time you tweet out your word count or story updates. That way, we all can find you!

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Denouement
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I’m really, really excited about this year’s NaNoWriMo, and I hope you all are as well!

It’s not too late to strong-arm your friends into coming, so send them over to http://www.nanowrimo.org to sign up! They’ll be glad they did.

As always, if you have any questions, please email me. My job as an ML is to help you get across the finish line… and both Jenna and I are here to be a resource to you if you have any questions or need any help!

I’m looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones this week at the Informational Meet-Ups and next Sunday at the kickoff party. In the meantime, start thinking about your stories, your characters, your settings, and your plot structure … it’s almost time to sit down and start writing!

-Sean J. Jordan

[Resources] Write or DIE.

Since Sean’s in a link-posting frenzy, I thought I’d share a link to Write or Die!
It’s a great tool for writing in general, but especially so for NaNoWriMo! Basically, you plug in your word goal, time goal, and level of penalty for FAILURE and then get to work! It monitors your word count and should you linger over Facebook or solitare too long, you’ll be prodded back to work. It’s handy if you have the will power to stick with it, but I usually end up just closing it and going back to Facebook… Hey, do as I say and not as I do!

-Jenna

Kick-Off Party in Edwardsville! (Nov. 1)

Hey guys,

We’d like to announce the details for our kick-off party for the St. Louis Metro East folks!

Come join us at our first big write-in event! We’ll be writing all day at the Edwardsville Learning Technology Center on 200 Clay St., Edwardsville, IL 62025. The building looks like a row of old condos. You can park in the (small) lot outside or on the street. We’ll be in the conference room, which is the basement. The door is on the RIGHT.

This is a potluck event, which means you can bring food to share with others. We will have free sandwiches and chips available for everyone; please bring your own (non-alcoholic) drinks. If you would like to bring a dish, dessert or whatnot for everyone, please feel free! (There are plugins available for crock pots or hot plates if the food needs to stay warm.)

We will be furiously writing from 10 AM to 6 PM, so please feel free to come and go as you please.

If you have any questions, please contact Jenna Stoeber (lostieborden AT yahoo DOT com) or Sean J. Jordan (seanjjordan1 AT gmail DOT com).

If you can’t make it to the Kick-off event, be sure to attend one of our many other fine events, all of which you can find on our Southern Illinois NaNoWriMo calendar!

[Resources] Writing Prompts

Have you suddenly got writer’s block? Don’t fear! There are plenty of Web sites to help you out with “writing prompts” — story starter ideas that can be used to start a novel or work yourself out of a dead end.

Here are 329 writing prompts. (Just move your mouse over the number to read one.)
http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/#

Here are some prompts for writing a journal that might be good to apply to your characters:
http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/prompts.html

Here are pages and pages of writing prompts from Writer’s Digest:
http://www.writersdigest.com/WritingPrompts/

Here’s a random writing prompt generator:
http://www.writingfix.com/Classroom_Tools/dailypromptgenerator.htm

Here’s a long list of prompts. And, since a picture is worth 1,000 words, try some of the photo prompts linked from this site! (Describe 50 pictures and you’re home free!)
http://www.creativity-portal.com/howto/writing/writing.prompts.html